The present invention relates to the roofing and siding art and more particularly to improved lightweight, decorative and fire-resistant roofing and siding having substantial insulating value.
Conventional roofing and siding of the prior art includes the traditional wood shingles and siding, concrete and clay tiles, asphalt and asbestos shingles and metal siding. Most of these roofing materials require periodic maintenance to keep them in satisfactory condition. Another disadvantage of such roofing materials is that they are not inherently good insulators and thus require underlying auxilliary thermal insulation in the roof, ceiling or wall structure. While asphalt and wood shingles are highly decorative, they have the disadvantage of having low fire-resistance and, indeed in the case of wood shingles are prohibited by fire regulations in some localities and almost universally impose increased costs for fire insurance. Concrete and clay tiles have the disadvantage of substantial weight, thus increasing the cost of the underlying structures. It has long been apparent, therefore, that a need exists in the art for light-weight, decorative, fire-resistant siding or roofing having good thermal insulating properties.